After yearslong cleaning efforts, what’s it like to swim in the Seine?
John Laurenson from Deutsche Welle, DW, tests out a bathing site along the River Seine in Paris, which was forbidden to swimmers for over a century.
DW
Updated:
5:36
People swim in the Seine river, in Paris, France, Aug. 11, 2025.
Aurelien Morissard/AP
From our partners at Deutsche Welle, DW, Paris Correspondent John Laurenson tests out one of three new bathing sites along the River Seine that have opened in Paris, France.
They make up a key part of the city’s Olympic legacy, and it’s a major milestone for the Seine, which was closed to swimmers for more than a hundred years due to pollution.
Click on the blue player above to hear the story.